The Miami Heat had a huge win against a top team in the Eastern Conference in the Milwaukee Bucks on the road Tuesday night, 123-97. Besides the situation of the opponent itself, there was a ton of factors that were holding back the Heat like the absences of stars Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Josh Richardson, but it prompted players like Nikola Jovic to thrive.
Jovic would start the game with all the injuries after receiving little to no playing time in the past few weeks and was exceptional as he led the team with 24 points (career-high) and seven rebounds while making five of his eight shots from three-point range. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra talked about the Serbian player's performance and the growth he has seen from him in his play according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
“Niko was very good; he generates more inertia for our team in transition,” Erik Spoelstra said which prompted him to talk about his dedication to the Heat. “He’s been very dedicated. I see a maturity and growth from last year to this year,… not getting discouraged. He continued to work, including after the Boston game. He went into the gym after the game and got more work in with the coaches. When guys start to do that, you start to see things change.”
Spoelstra says previous Heat starts plus G-League has helped Jovic
This has not been the first time Jovic has started for Miami as they was a 10-game stretch earlier in the season where he played power forward next to star Bam Adebayo in the front court. The team returned to that tonight and it was stellar as besides the 20-year old's performance, Adebayo recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Spoelstra spoke about the past starts for Jovic and how that has set him up for success and just gives him more experience as they develop him into a star player. Despite the NBA experience, he also cites his time with the team's G-League team in the Sioux Falls Sky force as helping him as well.
“[They] were really important games for us where he played well and helped the unit function at a high level, and he handled it well when everyone got back to being healthy and waiting for his opportunity again. He stayed ready,” Spoelstra said. “Attention to detail, the discipline, understanding the schematics, the multiple efforts. He’s been making progress for a couple of years. It’s not improvement that’s been linear. There have been ups and downs,… going to [the Heat’s G League team in] Sioux Falls, having his stints with us.”
Duncan Robinson was electric alongside Jovic
Another player who was instrumental in the Heat's win was Duncan Robinson who caused some controversy in the Heat's loss to the Boston Celtics last Sunday where himself and Jaylen Brown accused each other of doing dirty plays. Robinson got the start and scored 23 points as he made six of his eight shots from three-point range.
Robinson credited Jovic in the way he “changed the game with his pace” as both were dynamic from three-point range, separating themselves from the Bucks early in the game. He even said that what he did in the victory, “not a lot of guys that can do that and decision-make.”
“He completely changed the game with his pace,” Robinson said via The Miami Herald. “Being able to take it off the backboard, rebounding, pushing. There’s not a lot of guys that can do that and decision-make and have that sort of feel. I’ve watched him hammer away every single day. Days where he doesn’t want to be there, days where he does. Day in and day out, working on his game. I love seeing him be successful and have moments to put that on display because he has earned those opportunities.”
Nikola Jovic and Kevin Love, one in the same?
A player that was cited by Jovic himself as being an inspiration or someone he wants to play as is veteran big-man Kevin Love. Lucky enough, they are both on the same team as Love is almost seen as a mentor alongside Butler who has been seen on numerous occasions helping Jovic out.
Love was also a huge factor in the win to Milwaukee as he scored 19 points off the bench, collected eight rebounds, and also shot the lights out from deep, making five of seven from that range. As Jovic is 20-years old as mentioned before, Love said that he does not “want to put a ceiling on” what the Serbian-born player can do with Miami and in the league in general.
“You almost don’t want to put a ceiling on,” Love said. “You saw flashes of everything [Tuesday]. Especially at that size, him playing downhill, rebounding the ball, pushing it. His size on defense; he’s able to get in the passing lanes. He’s still learning it because he’s so young.”
“But then he’s able to hit threes, get in the paint, find guys. You look up and he has 24, 7 and 3. The upside is there. You see it. We celebrate him,” Love continued. “He’s an amazing guy to have in our locker room. He has his moments where you’re like, ‘He’s 20 years old’ and other moments, where you’re like, ‘He’s ahead of his time.’ He’s precocious. He [features] so many different things in his game. You love to see it.”
Jovic will still need some time to be a star player consistently
There is no doubt that the upside is there as Love said about Jovic who was drafted with the 27th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. However, there still needs to be some patience surrounding a player like him who is still raw at his very young age.
It is much different compared to rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. who despite the slight regression, has looked polished coming out of college. However, it is not the same since he played four full years of collegiate basketball plus his age at 22-years old.
In any sense, it was a great performance from Jovic and he will definitely be called upon for more playing time as the Heat still deal with the absences of Butler, Rozier, and Richardson. Miami is now 29-25 on the season which puts them seventh in the Eastern Conference.
The win Tuesday was the start of not only a six-game road trip that includes the All-Star break this weekend, but it was also the start of a back-to-back. That ends Wednesday night as the Heat take on the Philadelphia 76ers without Joel Embiid, Nicolas Batum, and Robert Covington.
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